News:

Good day, denizens of OC.net! Per our tradition, the forum will shut down for Clean Monday, beginning around 9pm Sunday evening (2/18) and ending around 9pm Monday evening (2/19). In the spirit of the coming Forgiveness Sunday, I ask you to forgive me for the sins I have committed against you. At the end of Great and Holy Week, the Forum will also shut down for Holy Friday and Holy Saturday (times TBA).

After making my life confession on Friday, I was chrismated yesterday, Holy Saturday. Thank you to all who have replied to my questions and provided help of one kind or another.

So I am now Orthodox! I hope you will pray for me. I hardly expected it to be smooth sailing all of a sudden, but I was surprised how quickly afterwards I fell into cursing other road users when I was driving. Despite my own bad habits. There is still much work to be done. At least I got that habitual sin into my life confession...

Nonetheless I am filled with joy. I have been searching for I-knew-not-what for fifteen years. Now I have found it and the real work begins.

So... any suggestions for what I should do next? I asked my confessor and he pretty much said, "the rest of your new life" which is great but I was thinking more along the lines of some good reading suggestions or something.

On another note I have just had my first post-fast bacon sandwich. Mmm...

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who can watch the watchmen?"No one is paying attention to your post reports"Why do posters that claim to have me blocked keep sending me pms and responding to my posts? That makes no sense.

hi brass monkey reading suggestions:the Holy Bible - read a little every day. even when u have read it 10 or 20 times, there will be still things to learn.my favourite is the orthodox study Bible, well, well worth the investment. the study notes answer all the basic questions. (for the hard questions ask yr priest / deacons).the orthodox way by metropolitan kallistos ware ('timothy ware') is good, as is anything by saint athanasius (eg. the life of saint anthony and the letter about the psalms)this link seems to not have the whole letter on the psalms, but it's in modern english:http://orthodoxpathway.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/athanasius-on-praying-psalms.htmlhere there is a fuller version in old english:http://www.athanasius.com/psalms/aletterm.htm

also pray from yr church's prayer book every day.one u start to get used to all the prayers, then memorise them so u can easily pray wherever u have a few minutes (travelling (but not driving!), waiting for the photocopier to warm up etc. etc.)persist in prayer and doing good to those around u and God will give u peace and joy.

So... any suggestions for what I should do next? I asked my confessor and he pretty much said, "the rest of your new life" which is great but I was thinking more along the lines of some good reading suggestions or something.

On another note I have just had my first post-fast bacon sandwich. Mmm...

Oh, yeah. That burger at lunch today really was new and different. Mmmm!

Logged

My only weakness is, well, never mind

He said he had a horrible houseI looked in it and learnt to shut my mouth

Congratulations and may God grant you many years! I recommend these books for your library:

By Father Alexander Schmemann: Great Lent: Journey to Pascha (1969); For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy (1970); Of Water and the Spirit: A Liturgical Study of Baptism (1974); other writings at http://www.schmemann.org/byhim/index.html

i started the way of the pilgrim. i am finding it a bit heavy and i have been orthodox 3 years!i think if i understood the russian orthodox tradition better, it would be easier, but i am not well acquainted with this; having only been to one russian service.

i started the way of the pilgrim. i am finding it a bit heavy and i have been orthodox 3 years!i think if i understood the russian orthodox tradition better, it would be easier, but i am not well acquainted with this; having only been to one russian service.

i guess i don't understand why he keeps wandering from one place to another.also he seems quite sad.were there so few places where he could get to know God?maybe it was written in the old days when there weren't many Christians?i'll pick it up again, maybe it will explain towards the end.